The Crackdown series is set in the futuristic metropolis of Pacific City. Players take on the role of elite police officers known as Agents. These Agents are armed with advanced weaponry and possess superhuman speed, strength and agility. Alone or with a few friends, these Agents will travel throughout the city to wipe out criminal organizations wreaking havoc. Their abilities grow over the course of the games, so by the end they can toss cars, leap over buildings, and more. It's like Grand Theft Auto mixed with The Matrix.

Many gamers believed that Crackdown 3 would be announced for Xbox One at E3. During the Xbox One reveal in May, footage of the console's interface showed an agility orb, one of the power-ups that players collect in Crackdown games. You can see it here in the bottom left of the screen:

In spite of this subtle tease, no Crackdown 3 announcement was made at E3. Spencer's tweet doesn't make it sound like the game's even in development. It's too bad, because Crackdown 3 would've been a nice launch exclusive for the new console.

One barrier to a Crackdown 3 return is that, as Spencer says, Microsoft needs the "right team" for the job. There's no studio waiting in the wings to make it. Realtime Worlds, who made the first game, went under after their MMOFPS APB bombed. The developer of Crackdown 2, Ruffian Games, announced a PC/Mac/iOS game called Tribal Towersback in February. They confirmed at the time that they're not working on Crackdown 3.

The Crackdown series always seemed to me like it was on the verge of greatness. The missions for the first two games were too simplistic and the story was a bore, but the core super-cop experience was strong. There's a solid foundation to build on and I think a really inspired developer could take that series to the next level. I'm not sure who that developer would be, though. If Microsoft doesn't know, either, then it's going to be a long while before the series continues.

While Crackdown is in limbo, other Xbox exclusive franchises have been confirmed for next-generation. For example, new games in the Forza and Halo series will be coming to Xbox One. Open-world action game fans will have Dead Rising 3 to look forward to on the console.